Gambling Risk in Gamers (GRIG)

To understand risk factors for developing problematic engagement with high-sensation activities such as gaming, esports, and gambling, this study models relationships between psychological distress, gaming behaviors, and gambling behaviors in people who have played video games in the last year. We survey these factors at baseline and again six months later, then model relationships using longitudinal structural equation modeling. We expect that established risk factors (young age, masculine gender, high psychological distress, low future-oriented time perspective, and coping motivations for gambling) will predict problematic engagement with high-sensation activities at both Time 1 and increased risk to begin problematic engagement by Time 2. The study includes a semi-structured interview component to investigate lay perceptions of the gaming/gambling intersection and hear from participants who changed their gaming and gambling habits in the 6-month period.

Interim Findings: In our baseline surveys, we’ve found that psychological distress predicts harmful video gaming and gambling in both HBCU college students and gamers recruited from tournaments. Rates of psychological distress in these populations were much higher than anticipated, but rates of gaming and gambling addiction were on par with population estimates. In other words, psychological distress does predict problem gaming and gambling, but most people experiencing moderate-to-severe distress do not develop harmful gaming/gambling behaviors.